Sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas";

"On the Wednesday before Christmas, my true love gave to me;
Permission to let the ice dam eat the house!"

Over the course of the last three days, I've spent over six hours clearing snow and ice off the tv room roof and I can't keep up with it.

Between one a.m. and noon the following day, a two inch thick sheet of ice and six inch deep dams in the gutters, which I had cleared away completely RETURNED.

I give up.

Two mornings in a row, I awoke with my hands curled into claws from all the ice chopping.  I felt like Michaelangelo up there, tapping away carefully with my pick, trying to coax the shape of a house out of the enormous block of ice beneath me.

The large sheet was easy to break up, as it was at least sort of fragile and the hundreds of Roof Melt pellets did keep the ice from bonding but it was exhausting.

And in the hours that I slept, some ice did find it's way under the eaves and the water marks are creeping their way across the tv room ceiling.

The dining room remains unscathed, even though there's just as much ice on the roof.  I did get the gutters cleared of ice on that side, apparently before any got in.  I hope.

I've already lost a full week of work but it's okay, I was taking it off anyway.  I was supposed to spend the time on Christmas related activities, not up on the roof but what the hey, stuff happens.

Yesterday, we were over at McCollow's, baking devil cookies.

They turned out great, despite the fact that while showing off, Josie cracked her egg half in and half out of the bowl and then we didn't have enough baking soda.   Molly got soda from a neighbor. 

I swear, it's the brown sugar; I brought C&H because it's a waste of time to make devil cookies with any thing else.  I've tried.  I've tried so many variables I can't even remember and they've never turned out with a different kind of brown sugar.

Then I came home, cleared ice all afternoon (I should have stuffed my cards and finished my presents but I hadn't given up on the roof yet.) then I baked the rest of my sugar cookies and watched Star Trek (the tv show.  I love Kirk and Spock.  Especially Spock.  Watching the movie the other day, my daughter said "How could anyone fall in love with a Vulcan??  It makes no sense at all."  I said "I love Spock."  I do.  All that logic and suppressed emotion made him dry, sarcastic and funny as hell.  I love Spock.) and watched the water damage creep across the ceiling.

Today is a new day! 

I'm making a list and finishing my Christmas chores.

Tomorrow night everyone is coming back into town and I'm totally pumped.

And the feeling is coming back into my fingers.

Totally pumped.